Ukraine’s militaristic, far-right Azov movement and its various branches have used Facebook to promote its antidemocratic, ultranationalist messages and recruit new members since its inception at the start of the country’s war against Russia-backed separatists five years ago. The American social-networking giant has also been an important platform for Azov’s global expansion and attempts to legitimize itself among likeminded American and European white nationalists. Facebook has occasionally taken down pages and groups associated with Azov when they have been found to be in violation of its policies on hate speech and the depiction of violence. The first Facebook removals occurred in 2015, Azov members told RFE/RL. But after continuous, repeat violations Azov — which includes many war veterans and militant members with openly neo-Nazi views who have been involved in attacks on LGBT activists, Romany encampments, and women’s groups — is now officially banned from having any presence on Facebook, the social network has confirmed to RFE/RL.
Despite the ban, however, which quietly came into force months ago, a defiant Azov and its members remain active on the social network under pseudonyms and name variations, underscoring the difficulty Facebook faces in combating extremism on a platform with some 2.32 billion monthly active users. ‘Organized Hate’ Not Allowed For years, Facebook has struggled with how to deal with extremist content and it has been criticized for moving too slowly on it or behaving reactively. The issue was put front-and-center in August 2017, when the platform was used to organize a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that turned deadly. The issue was raised most recently in the aftermath of the Christchurch massacre that left 50 people dead. The shooter livestreamed the killing on his Facebook page. The company said it had “quickly removed both the shooter’s Facebook and Instagram accounts and the video,” and was taking down posts of praise or support for the shooting. Joe Mulhall, a senior researcher at the U.K.-based antifascist organization Hope Not Hate, told RFE/RL by phone that Charlottesville brought a “sea change” when it came to social media companies and Facebook, in particular paying attention to extremists.
For instance, he praised the company for its “robust” action against the far-right founder of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson, who had repeatedly violated Facebook’s policies on hate speech. But Mulhall said Facebook more often acts only after “they’re publicly shamed.” “When there is massive public pressure, they act; or when they think they can get away with things, they don’t,” he added. This may explain why it took Facebook years to ban the Azov movement, which received significant media attention following a series of violent attacks against minorities in 2018.
via rferl: Facebook ‘Bans’ Ukrainian Far-Right Group Over ‘Hate Speech’ — But Getting Rid Of It Isn’t Easy
